The Godfather of Football

Chapter 618: Nightmare over the Emirates Stadium

The locker room at the Emirates Stadium is in the shape of a horseshoe facing the head coach, and next door is a massage therapy room with eight therapy beds and a huge spa room, which not only has a massage pool but also a comfortable shower room.

If it were normal, after the Arsenal players returned to the locker room after the first half, they would usually take off their wet jerseys first, or sit on the seats in the locker room to rest, or go to the shower room to wipe or even rinse their bodies, or enjoy the massage of the physiotherapist.

But today, all the Arsenal players just sat in their seats after returning to the locker room. At most, a few players felt uncomfortable because of the contact between their wet shorts and the leather sofa cushions in the locker room, so they simply took off their clothes directly, but no one was rushing to the most popular massage therapy room and spa room.

Perhaps they are now ashamed of their performance in the first half.

"Tottenham Hotspur is too strong!" Sagna said to Squillaci who was sitting next to him.

Obviously, he faced Ribery, the best winger in the world, in the first half, and the pressure was very high.

In this game, Arsenal's defense was completely dominated by the French. The left back was Clichy, the center backs were Koscielny and Squillaci, and the right back was Sagna. They were all French players, but the terrible thing was that there were obviously some differences between the French players.

"Don't you say you are too bad? You have been fooled by Ribery again and again!" Nasri glanced at Sagna and said dissatisfiedly. He has always been like this, saying whatever he wants, and his personality is very unruly.

Sagna was in a bad mood, and after hearing this, he said, "You didn't do anything in the front either?"

"That's because you didn't pass the ball at all!" Nasri got angry whenever he got the chance. He was holding back his anger in this game to compete with Ribery and Messi, two top stars, but now it has become a joke.

"If you could pass the ball, I would have blown up Tottenham's defense!"

"Wow, I don't know who was knocked down by Marcelo and couldn't get up!" Sagna said sarcastically.

This made many people in the locker room laugh, because in an attack in the first half, Nasri fought with Marcelo, but was knocked down by Marcelo and couldn't get up. That look was indeed a bit embarrassed and a bit funny.

But this obviously annoyed Nasri, and with a bang, he slapped the counter next to the sofa cushion.

Arsenal's dressing room is completely open, with no wardrobes. It is just a set of one-piece benches arranged around this horseshoe-shaped dressing room with wooden boards. Under the benches are cabinets for players' belongings. Behind the benches are open compartments separated by wooden boards for hanging jerseys and placing boots.

Nasri's clapping made everyone in the dressing room feel the vibration, and they were also startled by the sound, and the laughter stopped.

"Say it again if you have the guts!" Nasri was obviously angry.

"What are you afraid to say?" Sagna also stood up. He was not easy to mess with. Although he was not as famous as Nasri, he had long been fed up with this teammate with a rebellious personality and who always looked down on others.

"Hey, say less!" Squillachi, who was standing aside, also stood up and pulled the two French compatriots.

But Nasri lost control a little, pointing at Squillaci, "It's none of your business, sit aside and look at your balls, old man!"

Squillaci is 30 years old this year, and is indeed one of the few old men in the young Arsenal team. But if someone said that to his face, if Squillaci just sat back like that, how could he have the face to stay in the team in the future?

"If you dare to say another word, I will make you lie on the ground!" Squillaci didn't take Nasri seriously at all.

Maybe he is not as good as Nasri in terms of football skills on the court, but if it comes to fighting, he really doesn't take it seriously.

"Am I wrong? Useless balls, you were played like a monkey by Ribery and Cavani in the first half!" Nasri was too arrogant, and his mood was too bad because of his poor performance. Now he was provoked by his teammates, and he immediately became furious, completely forgetting that he and his teammates seemed to be not in the same weight class.

Of course, Nasri also has his own reliance, that is, Wenger now relies on him a lot.

"I..." Squirachi was about to rush forward.

"Okay, shut up!" Captain Arteta quickly rushed in front of the two and stretched out his hand to block Squirachi, "Sit back, Sebastian!"

Although Arteta is the captain of the team, he has always been called the most low-key and personalityless captain in Arsenal's history. But it's strange that he is the captain with the least objection in the team, at least not like when Gallas was the captain before, which caused so much controversy.

Perhaps, this is because in the eyes of all Arsenal players, Arteta, who is low-key but always conscientious, is the most important and indispensable core player on the Arsenal field, and no one can underestimate his role.

"Sit back in your seat, old man!" Nasri said a little proudly.

But soon, Arteta also turned around and pointed to Nasri's seat, "Sit back, shut your stinky mouth, and stop talking nonsense over there!" Perhaps seeing Nasri's lack of movement, Aleta Teta's eyes widened, "Now!"

Nasri dared to get angry with the newcomers, but he did not dare to get angry with the veteran Arteta. He could only feel depressed, but he sat back in his seat obediently, but his expression was obviously full of dissatisfaction. , both dissatisfied with Sagna and Squillac, and also angry with Arteta for scolding him in public.

After Arteta saw both of them sitting down, he felt relieved. He knew very well that he was not a captain at all, and being the captain made him feel very annoyed and depressed, because he always He felt like there was a heavy mountain pressing on his body, which made him a little out of breath, and he was no longer as comfortable playing football as before.

Thinking about it carefully, it was still the happiest time when I was playing in Ajax, but now...

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"Arsenal treats the visiting team just like they did in the transfer market, which is simply a virtue. The reincarnation of a miser!"

Compared to the tension in the home team's locker room, the visiting team's locker room was full of laughter. Ye Qiu was using ridicule and sarcasm to liven up the atmosphere in the locker room, but what he said was not wrong at all.

There is a spacious and luxurious shower room in the home team's locker room, but the shower room in the visiting team's locker room is only about twenty square meters. But the problem is that there are more than a dozen shower heads, and there is no barrier in between. In other words, it takes a long time to take a shower. In the shower, everyone was naked and honest, and it was so crowded that it was inconvenient to even pick up the soap.

The bathroom next to the shower room only has four seats, so you have to queue up if you want to use it.

The floor of the locker room is also very different. The floor of the home team's locker room is covered with moderately soft and hard air cushions, while the visiting team's floor is hard. The seats in the home team's locker room have soft leather sofa cushions, but the visiting team's seats are It is a very ordinary mat. After sitting on it, you can clearly feel the hardness of the wooden board. You can imagine it after sitting for a long time.

"You know? Arsenal gives me the impression of a stingy landowner. It's rare that today we found their treasure house, so we can't be soft and take as much as we can. We want to give this stingy man an unforgettable experience." A painful lesson that completely destroyed our Tottenham Hotspur morale and reputation!”

Ye Qiu's words obviously made everyone in the locker room very excited, because this was the greatest recognition from the head coach for them.

"I am very satisfied with everyone's performance in the first half, but I want to remind everyone that Arsenal is not a weak team. They have enough strength to counterattack. We cannot be careless just because we are leading by four goals in the first half, because we I once beat my opponent four goals in a row, and that was in the Champions League final!”

Ye Qiu's words once again reminded everyone that the lead in the first half was nothing, and one must have a clear enough judgment.

"I hope you will continue to maintain the high morale of the first half in the second half. I can predict that Arsenal will change in the second half. We will definitely encounter a more difficult game and more difficult opponents than the first half, but I hope Everyone can continue to play our football style and play a wonderful game that will make the whole world cheer for you!”

Ye Qiu excitedly waved his clenched right hand, "This is a North London derby. Guys, you still remember that we have lost to Arsenal again and again in such derbys. We have not won for many years." Arsenal, their fans have humiliated us countless times, but now, you, who make Tottenham Hotspur fans proud, have completely changed this situation, and you are continuing to create Tottenham fever. Thorny history!”

"I firmly believe that this game will be a great game. Don't be careless, go all out and continue to attack. I firmly believe that you can achieve a great victory, a victory that will allow Arsenal to meet us at any time in the future. Tottenham Hotspur, a great victory that will make them want to turn around and run away!”

"I believe you are strong enough to do this!"

"From now on, we will become a lingering nightmare hanging over the Emirates Stadium!"

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In Ye Qiu's view, the biggest sticking point for Arsenal currently is not the defense or offense, nor whether the team makes transfers or signings, but rather the team structure of Wenger and the management.

Rejuvenation may be a forced choice for Arsenal. Wenger compromised on the team's finances and chose to rejuvenate. This in itself is not a problem. The real problem is that he is dealing with the reasonable matching of the team's lineup. Up, a bit out of control.

Generally speaking, a mature and powerful team with a reasonable mix of wealthy players should be composed of three types of players: top stars, stars in their prime, young people, or experienced veterans.

Everyone must know that in this entire lineup, the role of young people and veterans should only be a supplement to the team's lineup and the thickness of the bench, and should not become the core strength that the team relies on, because they are uncontrollable. There are too many factors.

The core strength of a real team should be top stars and stars in their prime. This is the core strength of a team.

So Ye Qiu sold Van Persie and Falcao, but kept Ribery and Messi, Cavani, sold Mascherano in the midfield, but kept Fabregas and David Silva, sold Zielinski in the backcourt, and kept Cech, Thiago Silva and Alves, to ensure that the core strength of the team would not be seriously weakened.

And for Tottenham Hotspur, Ribery and Messi are top stars, while Fabregas, David Silva, Thiago Silva, Yaya Toure, Cech, Alves and others have already had rich experience in the Premier League and Champions League, and have won many honors. Their presence can help Tottenham Hotspur establish their own strong self-confidence, and through their usual performance, they can infect this confidence with the young teammates around them bit by bit.

Why does Ye Qiu say that any star can be sold on the one hand, but on the other hand he adopts a reasonable and moderate way of selling people?

In order to pass down the overall framework of the team, ensure the team's combat effectiveness, and give young people more and better room for improvement. At present, Tottenham Hotspur has Messi and Ribery, Fabregas and Thiago Silva, veterans such as Beckham and Raul, and young players with outstanding strength and talent such as Neymar, Coutinho, Eriksen and Ramsey.

According to the predictions made by Ye Qiu, Bobby Hams, and Mauro Tassotti, in two years, this group of young players will quickly grow into a new force in the team, slowly taking over the positions of other players in the team and forming competition. By then, it will not be a problem for the team to sell anyone, and it will not affect the overall strength of the team.

But Wenger is obviously out of control on this point. There are no top stars in the team, and there are few stars in their prime years, but there are a large number of young players, or those who have just landed in the Premier League. This is a very serious problem.

Just like Moroccan striker Chamakh, this striker has height and excellent heading ability, but not fast. More importantly, as a striker, he does not have strong ability in one-on-one situations, which makes him more active in running. The tactical role is indeed not small, but the offensive threat is not great.

When such a high center forward just landed in the Premier League, other teams were not used to it. It was a bit like a dark horse in the promotion class. Arsenal's offensive tactics worked. It seemed that they had picked up a treasure, but never ignore the wisdom of the head coach of the top professional league team. They quickly figured out your bluffing tricks.

Wenger also obviously realized this problem. Arsenal's defensive problem cannot be changed for a while. After all, the team's strongest defensive lineup is there. Even if it is to be replaced, at most it is to replace Djokovic to strengthen the defense, but the effect may not be good. Instead, it is better to further strengthen the offense.

So, Wenger made a very courageous halftime adjustment, replacing Denilson with Walcott, letting Nasri play in the middle, Walcott playing on the right winger position, and the team changed to a 4231 formation.

For Arsenal, this was indeed a choice without choice. Only by burning the boats could they have a chance to turn the situation around.

But after the start of the second half, Tottenham Hotspur still firmly held the initiative. Although Arsenal, whose morale had been exhausted, had launched several threatening attacks in succession after the opening, the effect was not obvious.

The most threatening attack occurred in the 52nd minute. Rosicky made a diagonal pass to the penalty area, and Chamakh shot from the left rib 12 meters away from the goal, but the ball was hit too straight and was saved by Cech.

Gradually, when Arsenal's offensive gradually eased, Tottenham began to threaten Arsenal's goal again and again, and Arsenal's entire defense had been completely destroyed by Tottenham, and the goal appeared under Tottenham's gun again and again.

In the 59th minute, Tottenham seized another opportunity. Midfielder Fabregas's high overhead ball was hoisted into the penalty area. Cavani blocked Squirachi with his body and entangled with Koscielny. The three players were entangled in the small penalty area, and goalkeeper Fabianski was hesitating whether to attack.

But at the critical moment, Cavani suppressed Arsenal's two central defenders with his body, and almost without jumping on the spot, he headed Fabregas's pass over Fabianski and into Arsenal's goal, 5:0!

If the four goals in the first half made Arsenal's players despair, but after the halftime break, they still had some hope, then now, Cavani's goal made them completely despair, because they would sadly find that no matter how much they adjusted, they still couldn't stop Tottenham's offensive pace.

After Cavani scored, Wenger on the sidelines slapped his forehead hard. He felt very disappointed, even desperate, because he had to admit that there was indeed a gap between his team and Tottenham that could not be overcome in a short time.

He even had to despair to find that Arsenal, let alone launching an attack on the league championship, after this desperate game, how far Arsenal could go in the Premier League and whether they could make it into the top four of the league were all very questionable things.

"Have I really done everything wrong in the past few years?" This was the first time Wenger doubted himself in his heart.

But Wenger's doubt obviously did not affect the progress of the game, because both sides on the field continued this almost one-sided massacre, especially after Tottenham Hotspur knocked on Arsenal's goal again in the second half.

Football games are often like this. After the first goal is scored, a goal frenzy will follow.

And at this time, the emotions of the Arsenal players finally collapsed!

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